I am looking for a deep-relief Islamic silver coil. I saw this about
1960, being young at the time; it could have been from 1900 or before.
It was very deep-relief, as if hole-punched from a page of Islamic
text. The 'text' on each side of the coin made up about 1/3 of the
total coin thickness. Silver and probably the size of an American
quarter. What did I see and where might I purchase one? |
Request for Question Clarification by
journalist-ga
on
22 Apr 2003 20:00 PDT
Greetings Corvallis:
I've located four basic types of Islamic coins from the definitions at
the Fitzwilliam Museum in the UK and the fifth definition shown is a
declaration of faith "commonly used as the main incription on the
obverse of many Islamic coins". The coin definitions are located at
http://www-cm.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/coins/east-west/glossary.html:
Arab-Sasanian
Seventh-century Islamic issues closely resembling those of the old
Sasanian empire. In many cases they are only distinguishable from
their Sasanian prototypes by the addition of a brief Arabic
inscription on the lower margin of the obverse.
dinar
An Islamic gold coin, first struck in Syria under Abd-al-Malik in AH
77 (AD 696/7), which remained the principal gold coin of the Muslim
world.The term is occasionally also used for a silver coin.
dirham
The principal Islamic silver coin, first struck in AH 79 (AD 698/9).
fals An Islamic copper coin, introduced around AD 700, and intended
as part of a reform in which Islamic money would be struck in strict
accordance with the Koran.
Kalima
The Muslim declaration of faith, La illaha ill-Allah, Muhammad-ur
rasul-ullah ('There is no God but Allah, Muhammad is the messanger of
Allah'), commonly used as the main incription on the obverse of many
Islamic coins.
From the definitions and your description, it is impossible to post my
research as a definitive answer until you have examined each type of
coin. I'm not certain what you mean by the "hole-punched" reference
but you will see some coins with holes punched in them from the image
links below.
Please view the images at the following results pages on Google Images
to see if any of the coin appearances jar your memory:
Arab-Sasanian - Google Image search
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Arab-Sasanian
dinar coin - Google Image search
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=dinar+coin
dirham - Google Image search
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=dirham
dirham coin - Google Image search
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=dirham+coin
Kalima - Google Image search (see first row where the Kalima is
written out - see if that looks familiar)
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&lr=&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=kalima
Google Image search is located at http://images.google.com/imghp?hl=en
Should any of these coins match what you are seeking, I'll happily
claim the question fee but I don't feel comfortable posting a guess as
my answer. Please review the images and inform me of your
observations. Do any of the designs seem familiar?
SEARCH STRATEGY:
"silver coin" Islamic
"silver coin" Islamic 1900
[Google Image searches performed as stated above]
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Request for Question Clarification by
journalist-ga
on
22 Apr 2003 20:01 PDT
I didn't include the fals in an image search because the definition
stated it was copper and you recalled silver.
|
Clarification of Question by
corvallis-ga
on
23 Apr 2003 05:46 PDT
Clarification: I may have this wrong. This may not have been a coin.
It was round like a coin but it had no edge, that raised corner relief
that might show if someone has been filing the coin down. The relief
was very deep, 1/3 of the coin thickness front and back. It ran right
off the edge of the coin as if this had been stamped out of a (metal)
page of Islamic text. Possilble this was a good-luck or religous token
(text might have been from the Islamic 'bible') that was carried in
the pocket. There was no mark on either side that would indicate it
was a button or lapel pin.
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Request for Question Clarification by
journalist-ga
on
23 Apr 2003 10:27 PDT
You may have seen a metal Kalima -not a spendable coin but one made
similar to a coin though I have no idea at present how to search for
an item I've never seen. Your best bet for recognition is to browse
the image results completely and perhaps obtain a copy of a book on
ancient religious medals or Islamic coins. Whatever you saw, it
sounds intriguing.
|
Clarification of Question by
corvallis-ga
on
27 Apr 2003 09:12 PDT
I have spent time with the Google Image search and have come to this
conclusion; I probably saw a coin from India.
Look at the Gold Mohur at the bottom of this web site:
http://www.med.unc.edu/~nupam/delhi1.html
Imagine this coin in silver, a lot more lettering, and very deep
relief; as if the lettering had been cut into 1/3 of the coin’s
thickness, and this deep ‘lettering’ existed on both sides.
Were there coins of this type after the English took over India in the
1800’s?
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Request for Question Clarification by
journalist-ga
on
27 Apr 2003 10:12 PDT
I wish I knew more about coins and perhaps another researcher familiar
with them will recognize the piece. Good luck to you in your quest.
Best regards,
journalist-ga
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